LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Patient safety is a top priority atAdventist HealthWhite Memorial, the region’s leading faith-based, nonprofit teaching hospital. In 2015, recognizing that some viruses and bacteria are becoming resistant to cleaning chemicals, antibiotics and even hand sanitizer, Adventist Health White Memorial became one of the first hospitals in the western U.S. to deploy a new germ-fighting technology, LightStrike™ Germ-Zapping Robots™, as part of its environmental standard of care to disinfect patient rooms and operating rooms.

The LightStrike Robots use intense pulsed xenon ultraviolet (UV) light to quickly and effectively disinfect patient rooms of hard to kill pathogens such as Clostridioides difficile (C.diff), Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) that can cause healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). If these microscopic pathogens are missed during the manual cleaning process, they can linger on surfaces in the patient environment for up to six months and pose a risk to patients and hospital employees.

Adventist Health White Memorial worked closely with Xenex, a world leader in infection prevention programs and room disinfection technology, to assess where the LightStrike Robots should be utilized within the hospital and how often. After seeing a 45% reduction in C.diff infection rates with three LightStrike Robots, the hospital invested in four more robots and a LightStrike Disinfection Pod™ to further bolster its infection control program. Operated by the hospital’s Environmental Services team, the LightStrike Robots are brought into rooms to disinfect high-touch surfaces like bedrails, tray tables and doorknobs after the room has been cleaned via traditional methods. The hospital keeps a robot on every floor to disinfect rooms after a patient is discharged, and then uses the robots to disinfect Operating Rooms (OR) when the day’s procedures are complete. The LightStrike Disinfection Pod is used to disinfect mobile, reusable equipment such as isolettes, ventilators, wheelchairs, and mobile work stations. With seven LightStrike Robots and a LightStrike Pod, Adventist Health White Memorial boasts one of the largest fleets of LightStrike Robots in the western U.S.

According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), C.diff is a major health threat. It is a serious intestinal infection that can cause diarrhea, colitis and even death. A person with C.diff may contaminate their hospital room and bathroom, leaving C.diff spores on the walls, handles and other high-touch surfaces that can be easily transferred to the next patient or healthcare worker in that room. C.diff spores are resistant to some cleaning chemicals and can live on surfaces for months, making C.diff infections a major challenge for healthcare facilities.

“Delivering top notch care to our patients is our number one priority, and doing everything we can to provide a safe environment for them while they are being treated at our facility is an important area of focus for us. We recognized that we needed new weapons in our battle against superbugs and we are very excited about the success we’ve achieved since we added LightStrike disinfection to our robust infection prevention strategy. Our infection rates are below the national average and we are very proud that we have been able to significantly reduce them even further after deploying the LightStrike Robots to disinfect rooms in our facility,” says Mara Bryant, Chief Operating Officer at Adventist Health White Memorial. “We were early adopters of the LightStrike technology and we have seen significant reductions in C.diff rates after adding pulsed xenon UV disinfection to our cleaning protocol.”

With the rise of superbugs that are increasingly hard to kill, hospitals like Adventist Health White Memorial are turning to LightStrike Robots to help rid their facilities of dangerous pathogens. LightStrike Robots have been credited in peer-reviewed, published studies by numerous healthcare facilities for helping them reduce their C.diff, MRSA and Surgical Site Infection rates 46%-100%. Requiring no warm-up or cool-down time, the robots work quickly and add only 10-15 minutes to room turnover time.

About Adventist Health White Memorial

Adventist Health White Memorial is a unique faith-based teaching hospital serving East and South Los Angeles. The non-profit, 353-bed hospital is committed to improving the health of the community by providing high quality and comprehensive care with inpatient and outpatient services. Adventist Health White Memorial has served the community for more than 100 years. Today it is regionally recognized for state-of-the-art technology and specialty care services provided by some of the best physicians in Los Angeles whose credentials include pioneering research, Ivy League education, and a commitment to compassionate and culturally-competent care. For more information, visit https://www.adventisthealth.org/white-memorial/

About Xenex Disinfection Services

Xenex's patented Full SpectrumTM pulsed xenon UV room disinfection system is used for the advanced disinfection of healthcare facilities. Due to its speed and ease of use, the LightStrike system has proven to integrate smoothly into hospital cleaning operations. Xenex’s mission is to save lives and reduce suffering by destroying the deadly microorganisms that cause healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). The company is backed by well-known investors that include EW Healthcare Partners, Piper Jaffray Merchant Services, Malin Corporation, Battery Ventures, Tectonic Ventures, Targeted Technology Fund II and RK Ventures. For more information, visit Xenex.com.

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